This month, my garden has taught me….
Beets right out of the garden
Gardening has a way of pushing me—gently—in ways that other hobbies do not. I love starting with a blank canvas each season, planting seeds and watching them transform into incredible flowers and vegetables. It’s deeply satisfying, like a visual report card I can track in real time.
Knowing what you like, and what you don’t…
While I have my seasonal favorites, I always try to invite an "unexpected guest" to the garden bed. This spring, that guest is the beet—a vegetable I have long despised. I hate beets so much that I promised my kids when they were tiny that if they tried them and didn't like them, I would never make them eat them again. No, thank you. Over the years, I’ve tried them raw, cooked, juiced, spiraled, and even candied.
Beet greens! You can eat them!
I will admit, however, that beets are gorgeous in the garden. The dark, veiny leaves, the tall, deep-red stalks, and the tactile excitement of pulling a ripe root from the earth—that is what I love. So, yesterday, I harvested a few with the iron-willed determination to make a beet, orange, and carrot juice that would finally turn me into a true enthusiast.
Juice book in hand, I went to work. Those beets were truly beautiful as I cut, cleaned, chopped, and blended them into the prettiest pink drink in town. I was certain I was about to experience something special.
Beet, orange, and carrot juice
Guess what? Still nope.
Even my own home-grown, organic beets revolted me. And gosh darn it, that’s okay! My girls and I each took a sip and agreed that further "experimenting" may be required (which is good, because I still have quite a patch growing).
Personal Growth
My garden is constantly growing, and so am I. Maybe I’ll continue to grow beets just to give them to neighbors or friends who actually enjoy the "taste of dirt" (I kid, I kid!). The lesson I’ve learned this month is that experimenting is the reward, even if the outcome isn't what I’d hoped.
If you’re growing something you realize you just don't like, by all means, pull that sucker out and chuck it! Or grow it and give it away. Nothing is permanent, and this garden report card doesn’t need a signature. Have some fun, enjoy the journey, and please—send me a beet recipe that might finally make me a believer!